The lives of exemplary religious figures can exert a disruptive effecton accepted canons of religious literature. While accounts of the livesof saints and other religious virtuosi eventually play a central role inthe lives of ordinary practitioners, these same exemplary figures oftenstand in opposition to authoritative religious and cultural institutionsof their times. Attempts to bring these figures into the fold oforthodoxy typically involve an elision of the more seditious aspects ofsaintly lives. This session seeks papers that address the subversiveelements that reside in the (auto)biographies of saintly personages.The organizers are particularly interested to address the topic frommultiple religious traditions; papers addressing figures outside theJudeo-Christian tradition are especially, though not exclusively,invited.

Send 250 word abstracts to wdavid.hall_at_centre.edu. Information aboutthe M/MLA meeting, to be held November 8-11 in Cleveland, OH, can befound at: www.uiowa.edu/~mmla/ .